Conceptio

The Hanging Sky marked a new direction in Shane Cotton’s art as he departed from the terrestrial and diverted his gaze skyward. Hanging in this sky are marked Maori heads, an allusion to the spiritual systems and mythological roots of his heritage, as well as elements of the mystical, the contemplative and the symbolic. Looming tall and commanding at 265 cm by 265 cm, the painting is a rendering into perceivable, tactile form the powerful, transcendent and infinite forces of the celestial realm. The seething darkness is interrupted only by exacting execution of recognizable morsels—branches blown, birds buffeted and leaves lobbed—as the imagery steers through an ambiguous territory between the familiar and the unknown.

This work has been extensively exhibited including at the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts in Taiwan; the 17th Biennale of Sydney in Australia and Roundabout at the City Gallery Wellington, New Zealand and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Israel. The Hanging Sky will also be the title piece for an upcoming solo retrospective to be held in Australia and New Zealand in late 2012 and early 2013.